Well, Shopify is one of the leading eCommerce platforms; Shopify holds a market share of approx 11% and ranks among the top 05 eCommerce technology globally. It is one of the most powerful eCommerce development platforms with a merchant size of 1.75 million sellers. More than 450 million buyers place orders from Shopify merchants each year. The number depicts who’s currently ruling the entire eCommerce market.
Experts claim that headless commerce versatility, adaptability, and vast user options are superior. It has increased e-commerce sites’ functionality while ensuring a better user experience. The best thing about Headless commerce is that it proposes solutions to monolithic commerce.
What is Headless Commerce Shopify?
The term Headless Commerce Shopify means it’s an eCommerce architecture that separates the front end and back end framework. It offers freedom to merchants that gives them much more freedom to customize and develop their front end as per their requirements. The good thing about them is that they can customize their front end without disturbing the backend functionality.
Since we are talking much about the front end and back end, let’s evaluate these two ideas for a better understanding
Front End
They are also known as client-side development or presentation layers. Including platforms like social media, smartphone apps, and the billions of devices we use as a part of the Internet of Things, this could be much more than a website (IoT). Smart mirrors, self-service workstations, vending machines, wearables, and voice-activated software like Amazon Alexa are examples of IoT devices.
Back End
The element of a system that manages operations unrelated to the user interface the back-end is in charge of data storage and controlling the structure and function of the system. Carrying out duties that are not the responsibility of the user interface. In web applications, the front end is the portion of the application that the user interacts with, their web browser, and connects with the back end, which consists of a server running server-side software, such as a web server, database, and application logic.
How is the Headless Shopify Commerce Function?
As discussed earlier, the two concepts of the front end and the back end are two self-sufficient parts. APIs act as a mediator to integrate the front-end and back-end. The reason behind them is that the API can deliver the information straightway.
Depending upon your needs, you can manage the content you will share with your customers by following a method to develop your back-end systems. This method includes:
- Progressive Web App (PWA)
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- Digital Experience Platform (DEP)
- Content Management System. (CMS)
The good news is that Shopify is planned with headless commerce in mind. As a result, converting Shopify-powered websites into more adaptable headless eCommerce stores can be simple.
Headless Commerce vs Regular Commerce
When picking an option between Shopify Headless and Regular Shopify, it is quite accessible and challenging, which eventually depends on the requirements of the merchants. So, let’s understand the core difference between the two of them.
Headless Commerce
Preferably, it’s for the brands who are looking for full customization but, at the same time, prefer to dissociate their front end and back end. But the good thing about them is the front-end and back-end can still communicate with each other with the help of API, so one can easily add third-party applications for better functioning.
A big positive on this side is the brand can update the front end without disturbing the back end which eventually helps the brand to alter its on-site content without passing through its commerce back end.
Regular Commerce
Talking about traditional eCommerce they are very easy to set up. All gear necessary for the merchants to create their storefronts is already available. The front and backend of traditional commerce platforms are interdependent, which means that the shopping cart, CMS, checkout, website layout, and other features are all linked. It means tweaking a single portion requires a modification somewhere.
This made the process quite a time-taking process and usually costly. There is typically downtime associated, which can result in a drop in revenue. Making design changes on centralized platforms can be difficult, particularly for highly customized perceptions. There is also the risk of delayed site response time due to API calls and platform restrictions.
Benefits of Headless Commerce:-
The benefits offered by Headless Shopify are speed, security, and a very reliable platform specifically developed and designed for eCommerce businesses. It now comes with a host of features which supports your store’s growth in real-time.
Complete Flexibility
Since the front-end and back-end are de-link from each other, it becomes quite simple and easy to modify the content layer without disturbing the business. The positive sign is endless possibilities since you can develop your own external CMS or custom code.
For example, refer to this website, OffLimits Cereal which uses a headless solution to design a vending machine-like buying process that leads customers to an interactive checkout to make buying cereal fun.
Quicker Page Loading
Headless commerce’s completely separated architecture allows developers to make quick changes, such as implementing new functionalities and interfaces, without interrupting the back end. There is a survey by, Skilled which says that:
- 47% of online shoppers anticipate loading web pages in less than two seconds.
- 64% of mobile users predict a site to load in four seconds or less.
With headless architecture, it becomes easier to develop mobile and desktop friendly. Shoppers can easily switch between your blog, checkout, homepage, and product pages. Enhancing the shopify website speed will improve the bottom line.
Personalizable URL
We are all aware that Shopify only provides four predefined URL types. Therefore, creating a customized URL for a product page is out of the question. However, if you develop your structure with Shopify headless, you will have this liberty. Keeping this in mind, Verishop selects headless commerce in the first instance. You can edit your URLs which include a specific product description.
Unified Customer Experience
The most important aspect of Headless technology is that it allows you to offer the best possible experience for your customers. You can select the latest and most modern storefront UI for your company. It allows you to use any third-party applications you want to customize the user interface.
Greater control and Quicker Scaling:-
Existing programs written in different languages can prevent essential connectivity, even if they hurt the customer experience. Headless gets along with everyone. According to data by Wunderman Thompson Commerce, 57% of IT and ecommerce leaders believe their entire platform can only sustain their business for the following 12 months.
Improved Time-to-Market:-
When you go headless, you can speed up your experiments and variations. It solves the age-old problem of designers needing help to work on both front-end and back-end systems simultaneously.
Also read: Unleash the power of eCommerce business with smart search
How Do You Get Started with Headless Commerce?
By decoupling your front end from your back end, headless commerce allows for greater flexibility, scalability, and customization. But where do you start? Here are three steps to help you get started with headless commerce:
Assess your Commerce Platform.
The best part about Shopify is the ease of going from traditional to headless. The Storefront API lets you connect your existing backend services with a new frontend without writing a custom integration module.
So, now understand the steps you need to follow to implement headless Shopify:
- Selecting a front-end technology.
- Leveraging the Storefront API.
- Plug-in Headless CMS.
- Building your front end.
Choose a Headless CMS
A headless content management system(CMS) is crucial if you deliver content to multiple channels. With a headless CMS, you can create content specific to each channel and user experience from a single CMS. You can choose an open-source CMS for maximum flexibility or a SaaS CMS for quicker and cleaner implementation.
Sync your CMS and APIs
Once you set up your commerce platform and CMS, it’s time to sync them. This is where the magic happens regarding integrating your front end and back end. If you’re transitioning from a traditional commerce platform, we recommend first starting small and syncing APIs to smaller sections of your CMS first. Test, Optimize, and Scale up gradually as you gain confidence.
In conclusion, going headless can give your eCommerce business a competitive edge. By following these steps, you can get started with headless commerce and unlock new opportunities for growth and customization.
Headless eCommerce Examples:-
It’s time for some encouragement. Let’s take a look at a few brands that went headless on Shopify to deliver the greatest customer experience and business results. Here are some examples of headless commercial activity:-
KOTN
Kotn is an online retailer which applied Shopify Storefront API to merge two stores into one. In addition, a new CMS, payment gateway, and customized pages were added to the new single storefront. It no longer required custom apps and glitches to provide the personalized out-of-the-box expertise it desired for clients.
With the help of Headless Commerce, they could develop a site and tweak certain changes, which helped them eventually to enhance the speed of the site even during high-traffic seasons and peak seasons.
Kinsley Armelle
It’s a Canada-based eCommerce company. They select Headless Shopify which allows the company to offer an exclusive shopping experience without risking the website’s feature-packed design. The best part is that Kinsley Armelle uses Progressive Web Application technology to give its website app functionality, thanks to headless commerce design.
The brand has successfully detached the front end from the back end and obtained the much-needed features using the headless approach. Overall, they start receiving benefits such as push notifications and increasing their email list, which improves customer engagement.
ILIA
ILIA, a smooth beauty and cosmetics business, is committed to matching customers with the right shade for their skin tone. Their website features a variety of stunning imagery, as well as “compare shades” and “find my shade” capabilities. The sophisticated tools used were making the website outdated and slow.
But once they develop their headless solution on Shopify, they encounter brilliant speed and responsive design, and developers can experiment with new kinds and formats of information.
Closing Thought
The question that will be going comes to your mind: Are you ready to go Headless? Since Shopify has gained a lot of traction recently, this latest CMS is making head turns from its exceptional speed, top-notch performance, and superior security characteristics.
It is beneficial for traditional eCommerce sites to use headless commerce solutions. Our Shopify experts can assist you in determining the best headless Shopify approach.
